Hollywood's 10 Best Portrayals of Famous Geeks

Right now Hollywood just can't get enough science. From the Tony StarkBruce Banner bromance in Avengers to Elizabeth Shaw's indefatigable quest for knowledge in Prometheus, inventors, tinkerers, and geniuses the cinema's current go

Right now Hollywood just can't get enough science. From the Tony Stark–Bruce Banner bromance in Avengers to Elizabeth Shaw's indefatigable quest for knowledge in Prometheus, inventors, tinkerers, and geniuses the cinema's current go-to heroes.

1 of 10

Walter Matthau as Albert Einstein in I.Q. (1994)

Here's a man who spawned modern physics and revolutionized the principles of scientific thought, and yet he couldn't think to buy a comb. Who better to win our hearts as a matchmaker in a Meg Ryan rom-com?

While I.Q. may be light on the science, it is big on warmth and ranks as one of the great mid-90s guilty pleasures. Walter Matthau's over-the-top mitteleuropa accent and uncanny ability to make light romantic metaphors out of theoretical physics are like miniature big bangs of charm. Extra points to I.Q. for presenting a mid-century Princeton as the Bonnaroo of deep thought, with Kurt Godel, Boris Podolsky, and others offering little equations of advice to a lovestruck Tim Robbins.

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2 of 10

Matthew Broderick as Richard Feynman in Infinity (1996)

Feynman is best known in academic circles for his work in quantum mechanics, but he's recognized in the public sphere for his whimsical writings and lectures. A freewheeling thinker with an artist's spirit, Feynman played a crucial role in the Manhattan Project—this duality surely adds to his public legacy. (That, plus his passion for Tuvan throat singing, philately, and playing the bongos.

A big-budget film about the Feynman-led investigation into the space shuttle Challenger explosion almost happened (with David Strathairn perfectly cast in the lead). But not too many people know about one Feynman movie that was made: Matthew Broderick's low-budget biopic. Directed by Broderick himself (and written by his mother) Infinity follows Feynman's early career up to and including his work on the Manhattan Project. The film is based on stories collected in Feynman's final book What Do You Care What Other People Think?

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3 of 10

Spencer Tracy as Thomas Edison in Edison, The Man (1940)

When I was a kid and didn't want to go to bed, I would tell my mother that I was a genius on a 24-hour clock like Thomas Edison. "Good," she'd say, "then invent your own lights." And then she flicked the switch and darkened my room.

Edison, The Man is a corny flick from 1940, sure, but all of Edison's visionary moments are here: the ticker-tape machine, the phonograph, moving to New Jersey. The film positions the creation of the electric light bulb as his fiercest challenge, met with an endless series of trial-and-error scenes in his Menlo Park invention laboratory. Still, the coolest thing about the guy was that he took catnaps, and thankfully this movie has its share of Spencer Tracy getting up off the floor at 3 am to jump back to work.

As it happens, 1940 also saw another film from the same producer, Young Thomas Edison starring Mickey Rooney. I hereby absolve you of any need to watch that and to skip directly to the action in Edison, the Man.

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4 of 10

Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999)

Homer Hickam isn't a household name, but technological innovation is dependent on a solid foundation of hardworking scientists who win minor victories. What I'm trying to say is, you don't need to end up on a postage stamp to be an important scientific figure. Sure, maybe rocket engineer Homer Hickam never invented anything too spectacular, but have you seen Joe Johnston's inspiring 1999 film? It'll light up the cockles of your heart like they're booster rockets.

Gyllenhaal plays a West Virginia kid inspired by Sputnik to look beyond a life in the coal mines and out toward the stars. It may just make that volcano you built for the school science fair seem inadequate.

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5 of 10

Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network (2010)

First of all, yes, Mark Zuckerberg is an inventor. The line isn't "if you guys were painters of Facebook, you would have painted Facebook!" Second, no one said these characters had to be nice guys.

Either way, The Social Network offers some remarkable insight into what inspires some people to create. It isn't always nobility. Sometimes they just want to get back at their ex-girlfriends and the popular kids.

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6 of 10

Liam Neeson as Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey (2004)

Many of the great portrayals of scientists show how perseverance pays off. Kinsey shows how too much tenacity can sometimes be a bad thing.

The tale of the entomologist turned sexual investigator has no shortage of scenes presenting our hero triumphing over adversity, but Bill Condon's film shows what tolls a lifetime of fighting the currents of a conformist society can take. Kinsey's close group of colleagues rebel against working in such a pressure cooker, his marriage nearly collapses and the scientist himself almost loses his mind. Kinsey is a fascinating portrait of a driven intellect, and a cautionary tale, one still relevant for scientists who work on controversial topics.

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7 of 10

Scott Beach as Wernher von Braun (kinda) in The Right Stuff (1983)

I'm sure you know all about Operation Paperclip. Toward the end of the Second World War the CIA's predecessor (the OSS) went to great lengths to capture and/or lure all the big German scientists to the U.S. before the Soviet Union could nab 'em. After a period of "Denazification" (not sure if that was applied with an aerosol can or not) the men who fired V2 rockets at Britain started working for Uncle Sam.

The most famous, of course, was Dr. Wernher von Braun. Philip Kaufman's masterpiece The Right Stuff doesn't depict Braun by name, but a Braun-like character is played wonderfully by character actor Scott Beach. In a film loaded with great lines, he gets some of the best, like explaining to Lyndon Johnson why America's space program will beat the Russians: "Our Chermans our better than their Chermans!"

The film certainly uses his heritage as a source of humor, mishearing "specimen" for "spaceman" and saying things like "Ja, a vindow," but there's one shot that is simultaneously comic and touching. The night after a successful launch the American space cowboys are drinking and carousing. The camera turns to see the Germans around a piano, crooning like they're in Der Blaue Engel. For a moment, the quest for innovation has destroyed all cultural and political boundaries.

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8 of 10

Claire Danes as Temple Grandin in Temple Grandin (2010)

Temple Grandin's story is one of an outsider (in her case, a woman with autism) who is able to see solutions to things where others don't even recognize a problem. The fascinating HBO film Temple Grandin shows how she took lessons from her own medical treatment and adapted them to ease stress on livestock. Her curved pens, used extensively today, prevent the animals from seeing what's coming, making the operation significantly more mellow, as well as increasing productivity.

Claire Danes' portrayal is breathtaking, inspiring, and funny, and Mick Jackson's film does a great job of getting inside of her unique mind as she is able to visualize constructs and their effect on the physical world. Science and innovation is presented as a higher calling for a brave and gifted woman, as well as a roadway to personal freedom.

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9 of 10

Paul Muni as Louis Pasteur in The Life of Louis Pasteur (1936)

Many movies from 1936 are tough to watch, but this one manages to still be engaging as well as an endearing time capsule. That's thanks to Paul Muni's natural charisma injected into the role of the great French biologist.

Louis Pasteur hates germs and he doesn't care who he offends in his struggle to wipe them off the face of the earth. Insulting the Lords and Ladies of society? Pish-posh. Wash your hands! More importantly, Muni's Pasteur is a tireless worker, driven to follow science's noblest ideals, unflinching in the face of adversity.

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10 of 10

David Bowie as Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006)

For the transgressive rock star of innovation you need... a transgressive rock star.

Christopher Nolan's The Prestige is all about selling the audience on a big idea, so it needed the perfect lynchpin to let the story move from slick-but-realistic to the realm of magic and fantasy. The film needed a figure like Tesla. Here's a man who developed the alternating current, paved the way to wireless communication, and then spent his final years trying to communicate with space aliens, befriending pigeons, and ranting in favor of eugenics. He's got the mad genius props to sell an audience on something like the "Real Transporting Man" device.

Casting The Man Who Fell To Earth only makes the proceedings that much cooler.

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